Apple iPhone 5S vs LG G2

Recently we awarded the LG G2 not only a full five stars but the number one spot on our smartphones Top Ten, officially proclaiming it the most magnificent phone on the face of the planet Earth.

But that was before Apple unleashed the iPhone 5S on the world. Does the new iPhone have what it takes to knock the G2 off its perch? Come with us as we compare the two aspect-by-aspect to see which is the tastier smartphone proposition.

Build quality and design

iPhone 5S in gold

LG G2

The iPhone 5S may not be a great leap forward in design terms from its predecessor but it’s still one of the best-looking and best-built smartphones on the planet. Tasteful, robust aluminium and glass dominate the exterior, and the thinness and weight feel just right in your hand. It’s also smaller than most of its rivals, making it more pocket-friendly and far easier to use one-handed than the big-screened LG G2.

The G2 rocks a large, almost phablet-esque 5.2in screen, but the narrow bezel keeps it down to a fairly manageable size. You’ll still struggle to reach your thumb all the way across to tap an icon when holding it one-handed, but it should just fit in a trouser pocket without causing undue discomfort. The body is plastic, and isn’t as easy on the eyes as the iPhone 5S, but it couldn’t be accused of feeling cheap. Unlike some rivals (***cough***Samsung Galaxy S4***cough***), the G2 doesn’t creak or flex when you give it a wrench.

In terms of interesting design tweaks, the 5S has a humdinger: the sapphire glass-covered Touch ID fingerprint sensor, which lets you unlock the phone and make iTunes purchases using your digit. Great stuff.

The G2 has the rear-mounted power and volume buttons, which come across as gimmicky at first and, even once you get used to them, are less convenient to use than side-mounted controls. Thankfully there is the option to turn the phone on by tapping twice on the screen, which can detect touch input even when the G2 is asleep.

Winner: iPhone 5S

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Screen

LG G2 screen

The LG G2 has a huge screen, even by Android phone standards. A 5.2in LCD boasting a full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution (that’s a pixel density of 423ppi), it delivers a brilliantly detailed, bright and hi-contrast image. It’s truly outstanding.

The iPhone 5S sports the same 4in 1136 x 640 resolution LCD (326ppi) as the iPhone 5, but Apple has made some improvements which result in punchier contrast, purer whites, deeper black and a teensy bit extra detail. It’s a classy screen, no doubt about it – but it doesn’t impress quite as much as the G2’s mammoth, razor-sharp display.

Winner: LG G2

Power

LG G2 gaming

The iPhone 5S is, according to Apple, twice as fast as the iPhone 5 due to its new dual-core A7 processor. Not only is it speedier, the processor features 64-bit architecture (a first on smartphones). Given that the iPhone 5’s A6 already handled everything you could throw at it with ease, we’re pretty impressed with the power bump, and haven’t noticed any lag in our time using the 5S. The 64-bit thing? We’ll have to wait a while for more 64-bit apps to appear to really assess its significance.

The LG G2 sports a 2.26GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM, and to get right to the point: it smashes its Android rivals like the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 in benchmarking tests. In real world use, it breezes anything you attempt, delivering the smoothest Android 4.2.2 performance we’ve ever seen and multitasking better than any phone we’ve ever used. It’s simply the most powerful mobile we’ve ever tested.